Improvement in compound bullets for small-arms



I; W. & R. SEALER.

Projectile.

Zigy.

N-FETERS PHOTO-LITHOGRAPMER. WASHINGTON D C Patented Aug. 12, 1862.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC REUBEN SHALER, OF MADISON, CONNECTICUT, ANDIRA WV. SHALER', OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS TO IRA WV. SHALER.

IMPROVEMENT IN COMPOUND BULLETS FOR SMALL-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,197, dated August12, 1862.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, REUBEN SEALER, of Madison, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, and IRA W. SEALER, of Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings and State of New York, have invented Improvements inProjectiles for Fire-Arms, of which the following is a specification.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a projectile forthe rifle which shall embody and realize the advantages of the Wellknownball and buckshot of the smooth-bore arm, without the disadvantages ofwildness of direction, shortness of flight, and intensity of recoil,which are serious objections to the use of the said ball and buckshot.

The said invention consists in a projectile made up in two or moreparts, which fit the bore of the barrel, and so constructed that theforward end of each of the parts in rear of the front one enters acavity in the breech of the one forward of it, and is so formed inrelation to it that it separates from it after leaving the barrel of thegun, and makes a slight deviation. in its line of flight from thatpursued by its predecessor, as hereinafter more fully set forth. Threeis, perhaps, the most proper number of parts.

In the drawings,'Figure 1 is a side eleva' tion of the said projectile.Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the rear portion of it. Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of the middle portion when the projectile is made in threesections or parts. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the front portion ofthe said projectile. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the saidprojectile, the plane of projection being through its center. Fig. 6 isa like section of the rear portion of it. Fig. 7 is a like section ofthe middle portion. Fig. 8 is a like section of the front portion. Fig.9 is the rear end View of the projectile.

1 is the front portion of this projectile. 2 is the middle portion, and3 is the rear portion. The front portion is curved on its exteriorsurface, as shown in the drawings, and very much in the form of the mostapproved modifications of the Mini bullet which are now in use. It issufficiently large at its base or rear end to fit the bore of the'gunfrom which itis intended to be fired. This front portion of the ball ismade hollow from the breech nearly two-thirds of its length, as shown,and this cavity is also bounded by a curved line of the formrepresented. The middle portion of the ball terminates at the forwardend in a blunt point, so constructed as to enter the cavity in the frontportion and to rest against the metal at the termination of this cavity.It only bears, however, at the point upon the front portion of the ball,the sides of the cavity in the front portion gradually diverging fromthe middle section of the ball, as shown. The obj ectof this divergenceis to prevent the parts from adhering together when discharged from thegun. A shoulder is formed on the middle section of the ball near itsbase or rear end, and the said base is made the proper size to fit thebore of the gun. The rear section, 3, enters the middle section, 2, inthe same manner, only that the cavity in the portion 2 is of less depthand its sides are straight, or nearly so, the point of the back portionof the ball being made to conform in such a manner as to give gradualdivergence of the cavity to ward itsbase from the rear section of thebullet. The base or back end of the rear portion, 3, of the bullet isalso made'of the proper size to fit the bore of the gun; in other words,the bases of the sections 1, 2, and 3 of the bullet are all made of thesame diameter. A shallow cavity is made in the breech of the rearportion of this ball or projectile, and a dome-shaped piece of sheetmetal is fitted in this cavity to expand the lead at the breech and fillthe grooves of the barrel upon the instant of the explosion of thepowder.

Operation: \Vhen these projectiles are used with the ordinary rifle ormusket cartridge, the parts are secured in position by the wrapper ofthe cartridge; but when they are used with loose powder instead of withfixed ammuni- The force of der hashad time to drive in the piece 4, and

thus entirely shut off the escape of the gases past the breech of thebullet; However this may be, the parts of the bullet probably yield alittle to each other, and thus lessen the recoil of the piece. At anyrate, it is very much reduced from what is felt from the ball in commonuse,even though this ball, aggregately, hasconsiderably the greaterweight. The portions of this ball separate in their flight. The

forward one takes the usual line of projection for a rifle-bullet, ornearly so, and is very accurate in its flight; The others, owing totheir less perfect form, and perhaps to other causes not fullyunderstood, turn aside slightly from the path of their predecessors,sufficiently so to be available as separate shots, though not with thatwild and injurious deviation which is common in the use of buckshot.

It is necessary for the realization of the result above described ofthis invention to so construct each part or portion of it that the partsof the rear sections which enter the cavityforward of them shall neitherof them bear upon the sides of the cavity at the base of the portionforward of it.

-We claim- The projectile hereinbefore described, made up of two or moreparts, each of equal diameter, constructed as set forth, so as toseparate from each other, as stated.

REUBEN SEALER, IRA W. SHALER. \Vitnesses for I. W. Shaler:

L. A. ROBERTS, Tnos, I. How. Witnesses for Reuben Shaler':

ELIUs S. ELY,

HENRY L. SEALER.

